1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a manufacturing device for a microneedle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A microneedle is mainly manufactured with a molding method in the related art. A molding type manufacturing device for a microneedle is disclosed in, for example, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2011-0012986, and the like.
However, when a microneedle is manufactured with the molding method, there is a problem in that the microneedle is damaged in the course of separating a product at which the microneedle is formed from a mold. Also, there is a problem in that strength of the microneedle manufactured with the molding method is relatively weak.
To address the problems of such a molding type manufacturing device for a microneedle, the present inventor filed a patent application of a manufacturing device for a microneedle, which manufactures a microneedle with a totally new method, as Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0029315. The manufacturing device for a microneedle disclosed in the patent application will be schematically described with reference to FIG. 1. Component names indicated by reference numerals used in FIG. 1 are as follows.
110: Horizontal Movement Stage; 130: Vertical Movement Stage; 121: Screw; 122: Nut; 300a: Air Blower; and g: Substrate.
A manufacturing device for a microneedle of the related art includes a horizontal movement stage 110 and a vertical movement stage 130. The horizontal movement stage 110 is connected to a driving source configured with a screw 121 and a nut 122 to be movably arranged in a linear direction, and it linearly moves between a first position shown as an imaginary line in FIG. 1 and a second position shown as a solid line in FIG. 1. The vertical movement stage 130 is connected to the driving source to be movably arranged in a vertical direction.
Such a manufacturing device for a microneedle of the related art forms a bottom layer, which is a basis of an applying of a viscous composition, through a spraying on a rigid substrate g manufactured with a ceramic or a metal, and applies the viscous composition on the bottom layer, and a problem regarding an aspect of stably fixing the substrate g, at the least, does not occur.
However, the invention disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0174066 (Title of Invention: Manufacturing Method for Microstructure), which was newly invented and filed by the present inventor, forms a bottom layer at a patch sheet that was separately manufactured in advance, instead of forming the bottom layer by applying a viscous composition on the substrate g, thereby inputting such a patch sheet to a microneedle manufacturing process. The patch sheet used in the above invention is shown in FIG. 2. A patch sheet 30 shown in FIG. 2 will be described as follows.
Firstly, a supporting layer 31 is provided as a component of the patch manufacturing sheet 30. The supporting layer 31 may be made of a material having superior moisture permeability and stretchability and blocking penetration of drugs and bioactive substances, and a film may be used, wherein the film may be configured with one or more materials selected among, for example, a paper, a non-woven fabric, a woven fabric, a natural or synthetic rubber, polyethylenes terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polyurethane, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polyethylenes terephthalate glycol, poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol), polyethylene, polyester, and nylon.
An adhesive layer 32 is located on an upper surface of the supporting layer 31. An adhesive used in the adhesive layer 32 is configured with a pressure sensitive adhesive component that is pharmaceutically usable, and a hydrophilic or organic solvent material and the like may be used. As such an adhesive polymer material, an acrylate based resin including an acrylate polymer, a vinyl acetate-acrylate copolymer and the like, a copolymer resin including a polyisobutylene, polystyrene, or polybutadiene copolymer, a rosin based resin, a polyterpene resin, a petroleum based resin, a terpene phenol resin, a silicon polymer, and a natural or synthetic rubber, or a mixture thereof may be used. A single adhesive polymer material or two or more mixed adhesive polymer material may be used.
A peeling film 33 is formed on an upper surface of the adhesive layer 32. As shown in FIG. 2, if the peeling film 33 is attached to the adhesive layer 32 while a cutting plane line of an approximate double oval shape (not limited to this shape) is formed at the peeling film 33, a portion thereof at which the cutting plane line is formed to be separable from another portion of the peeling film 33, for example, a central small oval portion of the double oval may be easily separated.
If the providing of the patch manufacturing sheet 30 of the structure described above is a first procedure of the manufacturing process, the removing of the central oval portion of the peeling film 33 using the pre-formed cutting plane line thereof is a second procedure, and this second procedure corresponds to a second diagram from a left side of FIG. 2. When the central oval portion of the peeling film 33 is removed, a portion of the adhesive layer 32 corresponding to the removed central oval portion is exposed.
Next, a bottom layer 34 is covered on the exposed adhesive layer 32. The term of the bottom layer 34 is used as a meaning of a bottom at which a microstructure is formed. The bottom layer 34 is come into contact with an adhesive of the adhesive layer 32 to maintain a firm coupled state. The bottom layer 34 may be any film having a hydrophilic surface so as to allow a microstructure to be formed thereon. Preferably, the bottom layer 34 may be any film having a constant and uniform thickness and a hydrophilic group on a surface thereof. More preferably, the bottom layer 34 may be a hydrophilic polymer film having stretchability of a proper level so as to be tightly attached to a curved portion.
As described above, if the patch sheet 30 manufactured in advance could be applied to the manufacturing device for a microneedle of the related art, it is necessary to perform a procedure of mounting the patch sheet 30 on the vertical movement stage 130 in a manual method or an automatic method using a robot arm and the like so that there is a difficulty in flatly fixing the patch sheet 30 while performing the procedure of mounting the patch sheet 30 due to high flexibility of the patch sheet 30, which is caused by a non-rigid solid material thereof different from a rigid solid material of the substrate g of the related art.
Therefore, there is a need for a microneedle manufacturing device capable of attaining a firm and precise fixing of the patch sheet 30 while increasing productivity.
Further, in the manufacturing device for a microneedle of the related art of FIG. 1, inefficiency regarding an aspect of space application exists owing to a large movement range of the horizontal movement stage 110.